Marshall sports student to present baseball research at 2014 National Conference for Undergraduate Research

One Marshall University student has been given the chance to present her research on Al Oliver, a Portsmouth, Ohio, native and former major league baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Betsy Haugh, a 20-year old sport management and marketing student in the university's College of Health Professions, said her research mainly focused on the media's portrayal of Al Oliver over the course of his 18-year career.

"For better or worse, the media play a huge role in many sports," Haugh said. "I thought the media's representation of Al Oliver was interesting due to its impact on his career in baseball and its effect on his Hall of Fame status."

Dr. Jarrod Schenewark, associate chair in the college's School of Kinesiology, served as Haugh's faculty mentor and encouraged her to contact Oliver for a personal interview.

"Although I provided guidance, Betsy is a member of the Honors College and worked very independently," Schenewark said. "I would love to see her research published and find out if it makes a difference in Al Oliver's life and his chances of becoming a member of the Hall of Fame."

Haugh's manuscript, "Al Oliver: A Career Worthy of the Hall of Fame," was chosen for a poster presentation out of 4,000 submissions, according to Dr. Gary McIlvain, associate dean for the College of Health Professions and chair of the School of Kinesiology.

"Ms. Haugh was chosen because she brought something unique to the table," McIlvain said. "Like many Marshall students, she has held her own and done work worthy of national recognition. Betsy represents the caliber of students we have in the College of Health Professions and our School of Kinesiology."

Haugh will graduate in May 2014 with her bachelor's degree in sport management and marketing after only three years at Marshall. Originally from Earlysville, Va., she hopes to attend graduate school next fall to study media communications.

The 2014 National Conference for Undergraduate Research will be held April 3-5 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. According to the conference website, its mission is to promote undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity done in partnership with faculty or other mentors as a vital component of higher education. For more information about Haugh's research, please email haugh@marshall.edu. For further information about this year's conference, visit http://www.cur.org/ncur_2014/ online.